Apartment odor may be second incident

Several people evacuated from a University City apartment building Wednesday night when they were overcome by a noxious odor, possibly pepper spray, fire officials said.

Five people went to a hospital for treatment after inhaling the odor in a top-floor hallway of their 5-story apartment building on Judicial Drive near La Jolla Village Drive about 7 p.m., San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque said.

Two firefighters felt the same symptoms of irritated throats and breathing difficulty when they went into the corridor, Luque said.

Residents in seven units on the fifth floor evacuated, but other residents stayed in their rooms.

Luque said San Diego police officers talked to some of those who had smelled the odor and, as an experiment, sprayed some of their pepper spray onto a nearby tree. The residents said the odor was the same as that in the hallway.

A building security guard then told police there had been a release of pepper spray in the building a few weeks ago, but no one was injured and he had not reported it, Luque said.